Monday, August 22, 2011

From up close or at a distance, the Distance Swim Challenge from Manhattan Beach to Santa Monica Beach in California was an excellent event.

From the Australian brotherly duo of Trent and Codie Grimsey who went 1-2 to 41-year-old local legend Alex Kostich (shown below in the last photograph), the swim had a cast of colorful individuals who showed plenty of character in the Pacific Ocean.

The 12.6-mile competition, with its 8 different stages along the California coast, was unique and enjoyable under nearly perfect conditions - relatively small surf, slight winds and pods and pods of dolphin swimming gently among the swimmers.

But the solo marathon swimmers were not the only ones who enjoyed and shined in the Southern Californian sunshine.

Relays from all over took up the challenge, including the Little Mermaids, a group of outgoing open water swimming women from Manhattan Beach including Susie Miller, Anne Ozer, Amy Kramer, Jean O'Shaughnessy, Helen Herrick, Alisha Auringer, Heather George and Tina Steck (shown left to right).

Olympic gold medalist Ous Mellouli who has been doing two workouts a day since he has 12 years old pushing his body constantly to its aerobic threshold explained how his left lung is larger than his right lung because he breathes only to one side.

Ous also smiled at his fellow swimmers on the panel, alluding that the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim may be part of his Olympic agenda in 2012. Given the flat Olympic course and Ous' dabbling in open water swimming at the RCP Tiburon Mile, we may see the defending 1500m Olympic champion competing against the world's best marathon swimmers in the Serpentine next year.

After major international open water swims, including the world championships and FINA World Cup and Grand Prix events, a random drawing is conducted and selected athletes undergo drug testing.

At the World Championships recently held in Shanghai between July 16th and 31st, FINA
announced that its 311 urine samples (including 43 EPO screenings) and 51 blood samples were collected during the competition for doping tests - and no anti-doping rule violations were reported.

Starting in the summer of 2012, sunscreen — and the way its marketed — will change in the United States.

And this is good news. The changes will correct some examples of consumer misinformation.

In the new FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulations will eliminate "waterproof" sunscreen. That's good because, frankly, no sunscreen is actually waterproof. Water resistant, yes. Waterproof, no. Next year, sunscreen companies must report how long their product's water resistance will last.

Under the new regulations, only broad-spectrum sunscreens that protect your skin from both the UVA and UVB wavelengths of solar radiation with SPF values of 15 and higher can claim to prevent skin cancer. All other sunscreens can only market that they just prevent sunburn.

The changes are consistent with the scientific evidence while the marketing claims are reeled in.

Reynold Tan, Ph.D., an interdisciplinary scientist with the FDA's Office of Nonprescription Products/Division of Nonprescription Regulation, says there is stronger evidence supporting sun exposure as a cause of squamous cell carcinoma — a type of skin cancer. Even if sun exposure is not the only cause of skin cancer, it appears that it is at least an important cause.

Ocean advocate and open water swimmer Bruckner Chase reminds us that most sunscreens are not environmentally friendly and are harmful to coral reefs. Basically what protects the human skin conducts chemical warfare on marine life. But there are alternatives.

It is estimated that every year between 4,000 and 6,000 tons of sunscreen washes off of tourists during their vacations. This sunscreen contains chemicals and oils that are harmful to the marine ecosystem, particularly coral reefs. In some tourist-dependent resorts around the world, the use of biodegradable sunblock and sunscreen is starting to take off.

A biodegradable sunblock is environmentally friendly sunscreen that lacks the harmful ingredients that are destroying the world's coral reefs. These sunscreens are biodegradable, meaning they break down naturally in the environment, and eco-friendly, meaning that they minimize damage to the environment.

When these oils come off human skin and settle on the coral reefs and other marine life, they almost act like an oil slick in the water, creating damage to the delicate ecosystems. The reefs are suffocated, and sunscreens are one of the biggest causes of bleaching to our reefs, and the death of much of the world's coral.

Some of the most harmful ingredients that many sunscreens contain include PABA, octinoxate, oxybenzone, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor, oils, chemicals or the preservative butylparaben. If a sunscreen has any of these ingredients, it is not safe for use on the reefs.

The Other Shore

The Other Shore follows world record holder and legendary swimmer Diana Nyad as she comes out of a thirty-year retirement to re-attempt an elusive dream: swimming 103 miles non-stop from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage. Her past and present collide in her obsession with a feat that nobody has ever accomplished. At the edge of The Devil’s Triangle, tropical storms, sharks, venomous jellyfish, and one of the strongest ocean currents in the world, all prove to be life-threatening realities. Timothy Wheeler’s documentary brings Diana Nyad’s extraordinary adventure to life as Diana sets out to prove that will and determination are all you need to make the unimaginable possible.LEARN MORE...

2014 Open Water Swimming Almanac

An Almanac for Open Water Swimming

An almanac is essentially a body of knowledge which is so complete that it enables people in different fields to make predictions about the future of their respective industries.

This, for example, was the purpose of the traditional farmers almanacs. It enabled farmers to determine as accurately as possible which crops to plant for the greatest harvests in a given year.

But the farmers almanac was just one example among many. There are, of course, many different kinds of almanacs.

The trends are very clear. The tide is rising for open water swimming.

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Congratulations to Bridgette Hobart Janeczko of U.S.A.

2015 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year

Congratulations to Antonio Argüelles Díaz-González of Mexico

2015 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year

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2015 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year

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Lewis Pugh Presents WOWSA Awards at Big Chill Swim

5 February 2016 in Windermere

2014 & 2015 WOWSA Awards

World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year, World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year, World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year and World Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year will be celebrated at the Big Chill Swim, one of the world's largest winter swimming festivals

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1 - 3 - 9 mile ocean swims on July 19th

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One of the World's Top Open Water Swim

Open Water Swimming in Italy

SWIM THE ISLAND is the ultimate open water swimming event taking place in the fascinating Marine Protected Area of Bergeggi, in the north-west coast of Italy. The event takes place in an absolutely spectacular natural setting, offering swimmers the vision of one of the most extraordinary seabeds of the Mediterranean sea.